Clip terminals



G. B. LONG CLIP TERMINALS Filed April 1?, 1952 INVENTOR.

George B. Long United States CLIP TERMlNALS Application April 17, 1952,Serial No. 282,869

1 Claim. (Cl. 339-260) This invention relates to electrical apparatusand more particularly to an improved switch having an improved structureproviding a simple desirable inexpensive connection to an electricalconductor.

Ordinarily electrical connections are made by binding screws or solder.It takes considerable time to make such connections but they have theadvantage that the conductor will be irnly held and the connection willprovide good electrical contact if the connection is properly made.

It is an object of my invention to provide a simple electricalconnection which is easier and less expensive to make and requires lesstime and yet holds the solid wire conductor firmly and provides goodelectrical conduction.

It is another object of my invention to provide a simple electricalconnection which can be made completely out of a contact carryingmember.

These objects are attained by providing a thin metal member having oneportion which either serves as a contact or supports a contact. Anotherportion is formed with a centrally located tongue on either side ofwhich are hooked shaped projections. The bare wire of the electricalconductor is held firmly in the hooked portions by being engaged on theopposite side by the tongue. One or more pivoted movable roller contactsengage the metal members or the contacts supported thereby.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearlyshown.

In the drawings:

-Figure l is a vertical sectional view with one side removed of a switchembodying one form of my invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional View taken along the line 2--2 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a view of one of the contacts as itis formed before theelectrical conductor is fastened in place.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to Figure 1 there isshown a substantially cylindrical housing 20 of a suitable electricalinsulating plastic. This housing 20 has side plates 22 and 24 as shownin Figure 2. Supported upon these side walls 22 and 24 is a coaxiallylocated pivot shaft 26. The cylindrical portion of the housing 20 isdivided by a central spacing rib 30 which projects outwardly to providea sufficiently long path between the two sides of the housing to preventsurface arcing. A corresponding internally extending rib 32 is providedwithin the cylindrical housing 20 to prevent arcing on the innersurface.

Extending radially through the wall of the housing 20 on one side of therib 30 are the contact members 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44 and 46.

The contact member 56 is formed of suitably molded plastic materialhaving electrical insulating properties. It is rotatably mounted uponthe coaxial shaft 26. This contact member 56 is provided with anextending portion having a slot 58 carrying a metal roller 60 of somesuitable electrical contact material. The roller 60 is proyided withintegral coaxial pins on its opposite sides which atet O Hee are heldwithin the notch bearings provided in the yoke 62. This yoke 62 isslidably mounted in the slot 58 and has a pin projecting radiallyinwardlyv on which is mounted a small coil spring 64 extending radiallyinwardly into a recess provided in the contact member 56. The spring 64presses the yoke 62 and the roller 60 radially outwardly so as toyieldingly hold the roller l in bridging engagement between any adjacenttwo of the contact plate members 34 to 46 inclusive. The aforementionedcontacts beginning with 34 and ending with 46 are in the form of thinmetal plates arranged radially with respect to the shaft 26 asubstantially uniform distance apart. Their inner edges are rounded andpreferably are provided with a silver coating. The remainingV portionsof the plates may be made of copper or other suitable electricalconducting material. All of the aforementioned contacts are arranged ina radial row on one side of the ribs 30 and 32.

Upon the opposite side of the ribs 30 and 32, the contact member 56 isprovided with a second roller 70 similar to the roller 60 whichcooperates with a yoke and spring identical to the yoke 62 and thespring 64 in the slot 58. The roller cooperates with the contacts 74, 75and other contacts directly behind the contacts 34, 36, 38 and 42. Thecontact 40 extends on both sides of the dividing rib 32 `as shown. Inback of the outer portion of the contact plate 46 is a contact plate 80which extends radially through the housing 20 and at its inner endcarries a spring mounting 82 for the contact 84. The spring mounting 82yieldingly urges the contact 84 toward the contact plate 86 alsoextending radially through the housing 20. Those contacts which arebridged between the rollers 60 or 70 are uniformly spaced in the radialdirection. That is they are located at equal angular distance andproject inwardly the same distance from the axis of the shaft 26. In theoff position of the contact member 56, the contact 84 is held in theopen position by an integral projecting arm 88 extending from the bodyof the contact member 56 as shown in Figure 1.

Fastened to the opposite end of the contact member 56 from the rollers60 and 70 are a semicircular translucent dial 90 and a handle or iingergrip 92. The dial 90 is provided with transparent figures indicating thevarious positions of the switch contact rollers 60 and 70. The figuresare illuminated by a light reflecting and guide system which includes acurved reilecting surface 129 which directs light from the side into theconverging light channel 127. This channel 127 converges into a narrowslot directly behind the -gures upon the dial 90 as they are moved intoposition covering this slot as the rollers 6i) and 70 are moved tovarious corresponding positions. A suitable light is provided at theside of the curved reecting surface 129.

The entire switch mechanism may be mounted upon a support member 133 infront of the surface heaters upon an electric range. The range top andfront member 135 is provided with an opening through which projects aportion of the housing 20. An escutcheon member 137 covers the edgeportions of the opening and the dial 9@ and the adjacent portions of theside plates 22 and 24.

According to my invention out of each of the plates l form a directconnection with the electrical conductors such as the conductors and117. As shown in Figure 3, all of the plates, such as the plate 44, areprovided with two spaced hooked projections 121 which are similar to theprojections 123 and 125 on the contact member 46. Between the hookedshaped projections there is a tongue designated by the referencecharacter 126 for the contact 44 and 128 for the contact 46. Theconductor is slipped through each of the two hooked portions and theneach of the tongues 126 and 128 is forced into place firmly against theadjacent side of the conductor so that the other side of the conductoris firmly held in the hooked portions of the projections. The opposingspring forces, set up in the hooked portions against the tongues, assurea firm spring pressed contact with the conductor. At the same time thehooked portions which extend considerably more than 180 around theconductor have their-extreme end portions pressed downwardly so thatthey curl through an angle of about 230 around the conductors suchv asthe conductor 115. This curling mechanically prevents thc disturbance ofthe good electrical contact provided by the spring of the tongues andhooked ends.'A This connection can be made quite rapidly withoutdifficulty. -It is very simple to properly form the projections andtongues. The contact plate 80 has a similar connection with theconductor 117 as shown in Figure 2. 1 f

While the form of embodiment of the invention as hereinV disclosed,constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other formsmight be adopted, as may come within the scope of the claim whichfollows.

What is claimed is as follows:

An electrical connector including thin metal means having projectingmeans and tonguel means extending side by side substantially in the samegeneral direction, said projecting means having a hooked end portion, anelectrical conductor rmly lodged in said hooked portion with the hookedportion extending at least 180 in tight contact with the surface of theconductor, said tongue means extending a lesser distance than theprojecting means and having a transverse end portion extending rmly intocontact with the side of the conductor opposite the side in contact withthe hooked portion.

References Cited in theiiile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Y Re.12,642 Schade Apr. 23, 1907 1,531,411 Perry Mar. 3l, 1925 1,544,301Fahnestock June 30, 1925 1,634,065 Barany June 28, 1927 1,702,451Phinippi` A Feb. 19, 1929 20 2,436,852 Carmichael Mar. 2, 1948

